Would You Go With Me?
by mmooch
Summary: *Kind of a sequel to 'Fur, Not Fangs'* Xander reflects on the past he had with the woman he loved before he joins her in the afterlife.


**Would You Go With Me?**

Summary: Xander reflects on the past he had with the woman he loved before he joins her in the afterlife.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Timeline: throughout an AU lifetime of BtVS and beyond.

Challenge: no challenge, but inspired by the video for Josh Turner's song of the same title.

A/N: This can be a mini-sequel to _'Fur, Not Fangs'_…sorta. It just focuses more on Willow and Xander's relationship.

Thanks to my betas: unbeta'd since this was spur of the moment. Sorry for any mistakes.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

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It started with a broken yellow crayon…

Even though Xander thought girls were icky and full of cooties – especially that mean Cordelia girl! – there was something about the crying redhead that pulled at his heart. So he offered Willow his yellow crayon to replace her broken one. Her soppy smile made it worth the teasing he got from Jesse later.

_One stolen Barbie later…_

He didn't know why he did it. Well, that wasn't entirely true; _he_ knew the reason, but couldn't explain it to Jesse or Willow. After all, how you tell your best friends that you're jealous of them? They had only gone to a movie together without him. He spent time with both of them when the third one wasn't around, so it wasn't a big deal…right? But he got jealous and took her Barbie to remind Willow who was supposed to be more important to her. Only it backfired on him and now she was mad at him.

_Next came the IHC Club…_

When Cordelia was her normal bitchy self – only they didn't use that word out loud 'cause it was a bad word – and tormented Willow about her hair, Xander came up with the fabulous idea of creating the I Hate Cordelia Club. They voted for officers and came up with different plans to make Cordelia suffer…like bleaching her shoes…or-or putting a Sears tag on one of her designer outfits!

By the end of the night, Willow was laughing so hard that she forgot that she had been crying her eyes out earlier. Xander didn't say anything, but Jesse could tell how much it meant to him that his idea worked so well. Jesse wondered if Xander would ever realize that his feelings for Willow were more than just simple friendship.

_Losing a friend, gaining another…_

It took a couple days for the pain of Jesse's death to finally sink in. Xander wasn't sure which made him feel worse, that his best bud was gone, or that Jesse's parents didn't seem to care that he was 'missing'. Oh, they filed the paperwork with the police, but were pretty much already moving on with their lives before the ink was dry.

Willow must have seen something in his eyes 'cause she showed up at his door with the backpacks they made up for 'running away'. They never actually went any farther than the basement at his house, or the guest room at hers, or the tree house at Jesse's, but it was still a nice memory.

They sat up half the night, reading Jesse's favorite comics to each other and sharing their best memories of the last decade with him. From then on, whenever he got that look in his eyes, she'd grab the bag and pull him to a quiet place to mourn. Somehow, Buffy always understood that it was just a Willow/Xander thing and never asked to join them.

_Finally in love…_

So Xander had what he later considered a temporary lust-induced 'D'oh!' moment. Buffy was new and exciting and a hero; was it really surprising that he'd become infatuated with her? Every time he thought about the pain Willow must have gone through watching him drool after their new friend, he just wanted to smack himself.

Then Oz came along, and they wore those costumes to make him feel better about being a werewolf. Xander kind of lied to Willow when he told her that he hadn't thought about her in a girl way. He was just feeling awkward at the moment and needed some time to separate his emotions from the person he dressed as for Halloween. Once he was sure that Willow would believe him, he told her _he_ loved _her_ – not that his character loved hers.

_Loving enough to let go…_

When the SATs came back, and Willow started receiving all of those college offers, Xander told her to do what was best for her future, and not worry about what he'd do. For weeks, he carried the small diamond ring in his pocket while she made up her mind. He breathed a huge sigh of relief when she told him she wanted to stay in Sunnydale. They were part of the fight, and college wasn't going to stop them from helping.

Dogs as far away as New York must have perked up their ears when he finally got down on one knee and asked Willow to marry him. He picked the library in front of their friends because he thought it was appropriate. He just didn't think that Willow and Buffy would scream so loud. When they started babbling wedding plans, Xander started to wonder if it would really be so bad if the Mayor won on graduation day.

_If anyone should object- well, they better just keep their mouth shut!…_

Four agonizingly long years later, Xander and Willow got to exchange their vows. It certainly wasn't the ceremony her parents would have wanted, but then again, they weren't exactly happy about _who_ she was marrying either. Despite neglecting her for years, they thought their approval still mattered to Willow. Boy, were they in for a shock!

So it was Giles who gave her away in a ceremony at his store, the Magic Box, just three hours after her last final. They said they didn't want to get married while she was still in college, so she thought that it was technically okay. It wasn't as if they were really worried she wouldn't graduate at that point.

The gang's present to them was a honeymoon trip to the Ozarks. A nice, secluded cabin where they didn't have to see people for two whole weeks.

It really shouldn't have been a surprise a month later when Willow found out she was pregnant.

_Growing old together…_

It was hard sometimes.

They watched as Giles grew old and died of natural causes. Something Buffy and Oz didn't get to do, thanks to some werewolf hunters. It was an ironic twist of fate that those same hunters were infected by Oz after they shot his love in an effort to get him. Even though they killed him, they were still hunted down by other pelt-dealers a month later.

But there were good times as well.

Seeing their children grow up and make their mark in the world filled Xander and Willow with tremendous pride. Thanks to a spell Willow worked out with some other witches, any Slayer or Potential in the United States was hidden from the Watchers Council while remaining on the radar for GaP (Guides and Partners).

This new 'council', run by the Rosenburg-Harris children, had a very hands-on approach to helping the Slayer. And it was predictable that all of their Slayers had life expectancies 5-10 times longer than those from the Watchers Council. It was as if the PTB had given their blessing to the new group. But really, it was the fact that the girls didn't fight alone.

_All good things come to an end…_

Xander stood by the ocean with a box in his withered hands. He was over 75 years old now, and couldn't believe he had lived this long. If it hadn't been for a tiny blonde whirlwind that blew into Sunnydale 60 years ago, he was sure he wouldn't be. Now he was ready to go.

He opened the box and let Willow's ashes blow out onto the water. She would have liked becoming part of the cycle of rebirth – that's why he chose to cremate her. Well, that and it was just second nature to their family now. Vampires can't survive cremation, so why not just cremate all their loved ones who died, no matter _how_ they died?

Then he sank to his knees, ignoring the pain he felt in his joints. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crayon box. This one was unique though. Instead of the normal rainbow of colors, there were 24 different shades of yellow in this box. Xander let the tears slide freely down his cheeks as he placed the crayons on top of the cremation box.

As the sun began to rise over the water, he felt a presence next to him. If he hadn't had the life he did, it might have shocked him to see a five year old Willow sit down at his side and take his hand. But he lived on the Hellmouth for so many years that it felt perfectly natural to see her there. He looked down at their joined hands and saw his wrinkled hand change back to a child's hand.

Just like that they were reunited forever.

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A/N: I'm sure I could make another fic for Buffy using this song, but the 'childhood to the grave' relationship between the boy and girl in the video just screamed Xander/Willow to me.


End file.
